How safe is Gaithersburg to live? (crime, statistics, moving)

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Originally Posted by mamaecho

And to DCnative.. that's fine for you, but if you are from a nice neighborhood growing up, MoCo can be a very dangerous place. Rather than say "oh it's not as bad as blahblahblah" how about saying, what can we do to improve it so it's as nice as "blahblahblah"

I grew up in Potomac. Gaithersburg is perfectly safe. No one in my family sweats that my 96 yr. old great aunt lives there, and my husband survived two whole years living in an apartment in G-burg.

For the entire month of October, 17 crimes have been reported in Gaithersburg (The City of Gaithersburg). These include non-violent incidents like someone drunkenly driving his car into a building and a theft from an unlocked car in an unlocked garage.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Mrs. 14th & You

For the entire month of October, 17 crimes have been reported in Gaithersburg (The City of Gaithersburg). These include non-violent incidents like someone drunkenly driving his car into a building and a theft from an unlocked car in an unlocked garage.

Strong arm robbery right bon my street. Interesting. I still think we're safe enough, but interesting.

[mamaecho]

Originally Posted by Mrs. 14th & You

I grew up in Potomac. Gaithersburg is perfectly safe. No one in my family sweats that my 96 yr. old great aunt lives there, and my husband survived two whole years living in an apartment in G-burg.

For the entire month of October, 17 crimes have been reported in Gaithersburg (The City of Gaithersburg). These include non-violent incidents like someone drunkenly driving his car into a building and a theft from an unlocked car in an unlocked garage.

I could be wrong, but I think that doesn't include Montgomery Village, correct?

Yeah I'm not denying there are safe places in MoCoat all, but compared to where I'm from (very small town in Indiana) there have been times I've felt less than comfortable..

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Hmm, your post made me do some research. Parts of Montgomery Village may not be within the limits of Montgomery County. According to the City of G-burg's website, one is to call the Office of Planning to find out if a particular address is within their jurisdiction. I'll pass on that one. So, I'll take a look at Montgomery County's crime rather than Gaithersburg's crime just for the sake of comparison.

As for overall crime . . . it's quite possible that MoCo is more dangerous than your hometown in IN. However, in 2008 there were 2085 violent crimes (crime stats: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/co...crimestats.pdf) and 950,680 residents, which amounts to about 219 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Such a violent crime rate is lower than the rate of Virginia Beach, which was ranked the safest U.S. city of 2008 with a rate of 224 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens (http://www.citymayors.com/society/uscities_safest.html). If you compare MoCo to cities with populations over 900k, its crime rate is astoundingly low.

Now, if you prefer a rural or exurban setting, that's fine. But I find expectations unreasonable if folks want to live in a county of nearly one million people within 20 miles of a major U.S. city and need for it to be significantly safer than Montgomery.

[mamaecho]

Really? Parts of Montgomery Village aren't within Montgomery County? What county would they be in then? I'm not sure that makes any sense.


Perhaps it just *seems* unsafe, with all the unsavory characters wandering around all the time... and the amount of alcohol use I see out in the open, etc.



Notice though, that crime has increased 5 percent for harder crimes like murder and rape. I'm not sure about 2008, but in 2007 the stats didn't include Takohoma Park, which I find interesting.

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Montgomery Village does fall within Montgomery County; that's a typo on my part. I'm unsure of whether it falls within Gaithersburg, however.

[mamaecho]

After thinking about it, I honestly think it's completely dependant on whether or not you live in a good neighborhood, or a bad one. And sadly, it seems that if a neighborhood is bad, it's "BAD" not just a couple of robberies here and there.

I think that's the biggest difference between here and other parts of the country.. you have such a big difference between the good areas and the bad.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Mrs. 14th & You

Montgomery Village does fall within Montgomery County; that's a typo on my part. I'm unsure of whether it falls within Gaithersburg, however.

None of Montgomery Village is within the city limits of Gaithersburg, despite what the Post Office might make people think.

[kinkytoes]

One of my old bosses had a laptop stolen from his car in his toney neighborhood in Gaithersburg. I think crime in MD as a whole will become worse as every Tom, Dick and Harry from hard-hit states comes to our state looking for employment. I have noticed lots more drifters begging for money on the streets in the "affluent" suburb where I work. I mean like 200% more. Petty crime in all areas has increased, and I don't see that getting better as people who commit small crimes begin to think that they can get away with it, and there are lots of targets in our "wealthy" state. Thanks a lot CNN grrr

I want to tell people to pls stop moving here in DROVES, but I won't go into that subject. No matter where you live, make sure you make security a priority. In a city, you can get mugged. In the suburbs you can be the victim of a "home invasion," and in the country you can be assaulted and killed and nobody will be around to hear your screams. Okay.

Don't be a victim, make sure that your surroundings are safe no matter where you live.

[84red]

it's okay but Gaith and Germantown is getting a little crappy these days. I guess it depends on where you are-because there are good and bad parts everywhere but I don't like those cities at all.